Old Colony student closes Apponequet co-op with name in record books

Old Colony senior Alex Turner has only stepped foot into Apponequet Regional High School a couple of times, but when he graduates this spring his name will be etched all over that school's record books.

From 2000-2013, the Apponequet boys swim team has averaged 17 swimmers a season with the lowest number of 10 being in 2001-02 and the highest number of 31 coming this season.

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From 2000-2013, the Apponequet boys swim team has averaged 17 swimmers a season with the lowest number of 10 being in 2001-02 and the highest number of 31 coming this season.

A total of six Old Colony student-athletes — Marc Deneault (2000-03), Andy Robinson (2000-01), Brian Bouchard (2003-07), Nicholas Drew (2005-08), Alex Turner (2009-13) and Jared Davoli (2010-11) — have taken part in the co-op with Apponequet.

Apponequet had two Old Colony swimmers on the team in a season four times (2000-01, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2010-11).

Since the co-op with Old Colony is ending, when Apponequet goes through re-alignment, coach Brett Pacheco expects the Lakers to drop from Div. 1 to Div. 2.

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Old Colony senior Alex Turner has only stepped foot into Apponequet Regional High School a couple of times, but when he graduates this spring his name will be etched all over that school's record books.

Turner made the most of his opportunity to swim with Apponequet as part of a co-op program by establishing school records in the 200 freestyle (1:47.90) and 500 freestyle (4:54.56) this season and helping set a school mark last year in the 400 freestyle relay (3:26.40).

"It means a lot," said Turner of having his name on Apponequet's record board above the pool at Austin Intermediate School in Lakeville. "It's taken me years to get there. It means a lot to me because I want to leave my mark on this school so people know who I was because I went to Old Colony."

Turner will be the last Old Colony student-athlete to get the chance to swim with Apponequet since this is the final season of a co-op that began 13 years ago. According to MIAA spokesman Paul Wetzel, both schools must show a need for the co-op to continue and that's not the case anymore at Apponequet, where the Lakers featured a roster of 31 swimmers this year with Turner being the lone representative from Old Colony.

"It's supposed to be based on need, money-wise or number-wise," said longtime Apponequet swim coach Brett Pacheco. "Going back to those days, it made sense because our team was really small and Old Colony didn't have one. Looking into the history of it, all 13 years, it's a little sad, but we don't need it anymore."

"It's difficult to have a co-op when you have 31 guys," said Apponequet athletic director Jim Cabucio. "It's got to be on both ends where there is a need. When the last Old Colony swimmer graduates out, that's when it ends."

Pacheco credits the Freetown-Lakeville Warriors Swim Club with providing a feeder program to the high school's team.

"The Warriors program should always be able to keep us steady," he said. "We may go up and down a little bit, but we should hopefully not fall to a place where we have eight kids again and we need a co-op."

When the co-op began in the 2000-01 season, Apponequet had just 15 swimmers, including two from Old Colony.

Pacheco said the parents of those two swimmers — Andy Robinson and Marc Deneault — were instrumental in getting the co-op started.

"Their parents came to me and asked, 'they live in Lakeville, why can't they swim on the high school team?'" recalled Pacheco. "I said 'I don't know.' I had no idea. They looked into it. We had eight or nine boys for two years there (1998-99 and 1999-2000) so we didn't have over 10 guys and that justified the co-op. They went and pushed for it. They did all the work. All of a sudden, I was told there was a co-op with Old Colony and these two boys are going to swim."

Since then, there's been at least one swimmer from Old Colony every year except for one (2008-09) with a total of six taking advantage of the opportunity.

"It's been great for the kids who have chosen to do it," Pacheco said. "We've had at least one every year except that one year and it's fantastic. But we never ever got a ton of kids. That's also good because it was never a point of contention with anyone. No one ever said you're getting all those kids from that school.

"But the Old Colony thing has always helped. It's always nudged us over the top where we had nine kids and we got two from Old Colony and now we have 11 or we had eight kids and we got one from Old Colony and then we had nine. It was just that one extra kid. It's always been nice to have and those kids did a great job."

While there's been some strong swimmers come before him, Turner is the first from Old Colony to set school records at Apponequet.

"We've had several real good ones," said Pacheco. "Marc Deneault and Andy Robinson were real fast, but he's definitely the first one to put his name on the board."

Turner helped the Lakers capture the program's first-ever Southern Conference duel meet title this winter by recording 11 first places and three seconds in 14 individual races. Now that the regular season is over, Turner has his sights set on the conference meet, sectionals and states. He's qualified for sectionals in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 500 free and 100 butterfly. He's also qualified for states in the 100 free, 200 free, 500 free and 100 butterfly.

"It's been great," said Turner, who plans to swim in college at Keene State. "There have been a lot of good times here. Definitely last year breaking the 400 free relay was exciting. It was great putting my name up on the board there."

Since Turner lives in Lakeville and competes for the Freetown-Lakeville Warriors Swim Team based out of the Austin Intermediate School pool, he's never felt like an outsider on Apponequet's high school squad.

"I already knew all of the guys because I swam here," said the 17-year-old, adding that he's been able to swim alongside his younger brother Devon, a sophomore at Apponequet. "I've never even looked at it as a co-op. I've always looked at myself as a member of the Apponequet team. I never looked at it as me being an Old Colony student."

The only time Turner experienced the downside of being part of a co-op took place earlier this season. The day after he set the school record in the 200-yard freestyle, Turner listened to the morning announcements at Old Colony, but didn't hear a mention of his accomplishment.

"No one knows I swim," said Turner, who earns varsity letters from both schools. "The morning announcements shut off and then I announced 'by the way, I set the school record yesterday.'

"Here (at Apponequet) I know my name gets announced at the school all the time. I've never heard it before. It would be nice to hear it. I've never even stepped foot into that building, maybe just once or twice, but they all know me. Everyone knows."

"It's kind of hard when it's a team of one," said Pacheco.

Turner said he couldn't have imagined not being a part of Apponequet's swim team even his freshman and sophomore years when he had to catch rides with friends, take the bus or sometimes even walk to practice in Lakeville after he was released from school in Rochester. Turner said all of that was worth it for a chance to swim. He went as far as to say he wouldn't have gone to Old Colony four years ago if it didn't have a swimming co-op with Apponequet.

"I would have transferred to Apponequet," he admitted. "I made sure before I attended the school as a freshman that I could swim."

Since Old Colony has nothing in place to offer swimming next year as a co-op or on its own, incoming swimmers may have a tough decision to make.

"It's a shame to see an Old Colony kid breaking all kinds of records and no other Old Colony kid will get that opportunity," said Old Colony athletic director Matt Trahan.